Tight conditions haven’t yet sparked much pressure in average hourly earnings which did rise a respectable 0.3 percent in the month though the year-on-year rate fell 1 tenth to a very soft 2.5 percent. How long wages can stay quiet given the lack of available labor is an open question.

Stronger household finances are laying the foundation for a sustained boom in consumer spending. The improving job market has lifted incomes across the board, while shrinking debt burdens and falling energy prices are freeing up disposable income. The stock market’s rally and real estate’s recovery have helped households more than regain the wealth erased by the recession, placing American consumers in a stronger position than ever before. And since consumer spending accounts for nearly 70 percent of American GDP, a sunny outlook for the nation’s consumers could boost overall economic output in 2017.

Congratulations!

Today’s job report shows average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers are $21.96 vs $21.46 a year ago.

The pack of liars at the Fed and the pack of charlatans in mainstream media all want you to believe there is a benefit to inflation. There is no benefit except to the banks, the bondholders, the already wealthy, and those who feed off the system like public unions and politicians.

The above graph is far worse than it appears because the BLS does not include home prices in the CPI. The BLS also does product substitution. Price inflation is way understated.

To achieve that price inflation, the Fed went rampant with monetary inflation including QE.

Fed chair Janet Yellen rails against income inequality but she needs to look in the mirror. The Fed is the primary sponsor of income inequality was well as a primary reason for price inflation.